The Scenography working group is looking for contributions that will broaden and deepen our mutual understanding of scenographic practices and processes, and the nature of contemporary scenography.
They are looking for provocations, panel discussions and practical workshops, and are open to innovative collaborations and stimulations.
While they understanding the wish / need of some contributors to present formal papers, the group has found that our best sessions focus on informed discussion and practical exploration. They therefore ask that all proposed papers are able to be circulated, at least in draft  form, 4 week prior to the conference.
Here are some themes which they hope to cluster contributions around:
The construction of performed identity through costume and through objects (puppets), the animation of the inanimate object in performance.
Costume as the embodyment of scenographic ideas, as performed object or as clothes for a character? How does the researcher’s view comparer to the practitioner’s or the performers for that matter?
Drawing – The communication and development of ideas – going beyond the limits of written and spoken language. A democratic tool in an otherwise technocratic world? What is the role of drawing in the language of scenographer and scenography.
The relationship between the lived presence and the scenographic image, with reference to site and the performance of everyday life.
The manipulation of performance space through light & sound, the transient and ephemeral and its impact on the concrete
The scenographer’s creative journey – what is it? The nature and use of the scenographer’s personal archive. What trace does the process of making scenographic work leave behind? What is the function of the archive in researching scenographic practice and in creating new Scenography?
Submissions and enquiries to Donatella and Nick

Cardiff Conference September 9th to 11th 2010

at d.barbieri@vam.ac.uk and nick.moran@cssd.ac.uk please.
The initial deadline for submissions is 1st May 2010

Theatre designers are often unacknowledged as cultural commentators. To redress this imbalance, Armstrong has used the NT Archive to draw together critics’ reactions to productions with the designers’ intentions.
Having researched designers at the National for her PhD since 2005, Armstrong will look at how the designers working with Nicholas Hytner during his early period as NT Director – Tim Hatley, Christopher Oram and Mark Thompson – produced a distinctly ‘globalised’ aesthetic’ in their designs.
Call 020 7452 3000 or book online to reserve you place for this free lecture. Limited availability.

7 May at 1pm
John Lyon Education Studio, National Theatre Studio, 83-101, The Cut, SE1 8LL, London
Embodying Globalisation: NT Set Design – Esther Armstrong